5 Time Management Strategies

Although many of us now work from home, there are only so many hours in a day to work, manage your household, run errands, and take care of personal matters. Even less so if you have to juggle kids and pets. The helpful strategies below will get you started on finding more time in your day.

Divide Tasks By Priority Level

Some tasks are urgent, some are important, some are both, and some are none. Get rid of the tasks you don’t really need to do- side conversations with coworkers not relevant to a project, texts from your best friend about a new restaurant, checking social media, etc.. Focus on a few of the most important tasks and prioritize their order of completion.

Delegate When You Can

Does your partner work closer to the grocery store so it would be easier for them to pick up groceries? Could you assign age-appropriate chores to your children? What about work- are you holding on to your tasks because you’re worried they won’t be completed or worse yet, completed incorrectly? Take an inventory of your tasks and see if you can find at least one or two to give away.

You can also pay to delegate by hiring a lawn or cleaning service, sending your laundry out, or ordering in for meals. If you can afford it, it’s a great way to put money back into the local economy, while also giving yourself back some much needed time.

Let An App Do The Work

There are several personal productivity apps available that can track your time, increase productivity, help you organize tasks, and much more. Todoist, Trello, and Be Focused Timer are some of the higher rated apps that provide both free and paid options.

Focus On One Thing At A Time

Multi-tasking might feel like you’re getting a bunch of things done at once, but you might not be paying attention to the details. Studies show that multi-tasking actually causes a decrease in productivity. Try the Pomodoro Technique, which involves using a timer to break down your work into intervals. You try to focus on one task for a determined amount of time and take a short break once the timer has rung; rinse and repeat.

Break Up Big Projects

Just like you can’t eat an elephant in one bite, you can’t complete most projects in one day. If your to-do list seems a mile long, try breaking it up into smaller, more manageable pieces. It’ll give you a sense of accomplishment and those tasks that seemed daunting or overwhelming will start to feel more attainable.

Whatever time management strategies you choose, it’s important not to give up after the first try. Give yourself some grace and try again.